What Does It Mean To Trust God?


God’s highest purpose in us is to teach us how to trust Him. Trust enables God to work His miracles through us.  Without trust, God does nothing.

But what is trust and how is it developed?
Trust is the result of God working His internal purpose in us.  To understand what I mean by this, consider the following scripture:

“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.”
Matthew 6:33
Through this scripture we see that God meets our needs when we focus on PURPOSE.  
What is that purpose?
To advance the Kingdom of God.
But how is the Kingdom of God advanced?
The Bible teaches that the kingdom of God is advanced in two ways— internally and externally.
Internally God’s Kingdom is advanced in us (our mind, will and emotions) when we learn to TRUST Him for our needs.  That is why learning to trust God is so important.  Without trust God’s Kingdom cannot be advanced and God cannot meet our needs.
Trust is developed when we learn to Rest in God.
Resting means that we give our fears and worries to God.  We trust Him to do what needs to be done in order to “fix” it.  Sometimes what needs to be fixed is in US, sometimes it’s in the CIRCUMSTANCES that surround us.  Either way God says, “Trust me.  Let me do the work!”  This concept is reflected in the following scripture:
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you REST. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Matthew 11:28-30
Did you see the promise?  Jesus (Christ) said that He will “give you rest”.  The only way anyone can give you rest is if they are willing to do the work FOR you.  And that’s what Jesus is saying.  He’s saying, “Just give it to me (your worries and fears) and I will take care of it.”  He’s saying TRUST me.
We trust God when we learn to rest in Him.  But how is rest developed?
Rest is developed when we MEDITATE on the promises of God in the Bible.  Meditation is not memorizing scripture.  Meditation is ruminating scripture, like a cow chewing it’s cud.  It’s rolling scripture over and over again in your mind.  Gradually your mind begins to believe what it hears.  That’s because God gets involved and speaks to your mind reassuring you that He will take care of it.  Read my article on The Purpose of Meditation.
As Christians God has given us the MIND of Christ.  As we learn to Rest in God through meditation, the mind of Christ becomes clearer and clearer in our spirits.  In this way our ability to trust in God is greatly enhanced.

But God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.  The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.  For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him?  In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.  We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.
1 Corinthians 2:10-12
For more on advancing God's purposes in your life, read my book Truth Based Thinking